Lamp mount positioner



Dec. 16, 1958 E. E. YEO 2,8

LAMP MOUNT POSITIONER Filed June 17, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORERNE6T 5. YEO

W IM ATTORNEY.

Dec. 16, 1958 E. E. YEO

LAMP MOUNT POSITIONEIR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 17, 1955 INVEN TORERNEST E. YEO

LAMP MQUN T POSITION ER Ernest E. Yea, Wenham, Mass, assignor toSylvania Electric Products ind, Salem, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Application June 17, 1955, Serial No. 516,163 1 Claim.(Cl. 19833) My invention relates to machinery for use in the manufactureof electric lamps or similar articles.

Specifically, my invention relates to machinery for positioning lampmounts, or assemblies of filaments, lead supports and lead wires,preparatory to the performance of further operations on said lampmounts. Such further operations may include the installation of bulbsupon said lamp mounts and the sealing, flushing and filling of saidbulbs with inert gas.

Still more specifically, my invention relates to machinery for solocating electric-lamp mounts on a lampmaking machine that each lampmount is centered on the lamp-making-machine spindle which carries itand that each lamp mount is oriented with its lead wires in a desireddirection. Orientation of the lead wires is obtained by reference to thepress or pair of flat places formed on each lamp mount afterinstallation of the lead wires. It will be understood that, while themachine of our inventionis to be described in terms of operations whichit can perform upon mounts for incandescent lamps, the usefulness of ourinvention is not limited to the lamp industry but may extend in certaincircumstances to the manufacture of electron tubes and other devices.

In the manufacture of electric lamps and other devices having centralfilament assemblies, or mounts, it is often important to positionprecisely the mounts on the machine which it to install bulbs on themounts, seal the bulbs, flush and fill the bulbs with inert gas, andinstall bases or terminals thereon. For instance, in lamps having twodissimilar lead wires, one of which is to serve as a fuse, it isimportant that the mounts be correctly oriented during the manufacturingoperations in order that the respective positions of the two lead wiresmay not become confused, thereby causing the connection of the fuse wireto the wrong lamp terminal. Further, in the transfer of lamp assembliesfrom the machine which installs and seals the bulbs thereon to anothermachine which exhausts the bulbs, flushes, fills and finishes them, thearrangement is often such that a predetermined rotation of each lampassembly takes place. In such a case, it is important so to position thelamp mounts on the spindles of the sealing machine that said laterrotation during transfer will result in the delivery of the lampassemblies for the exhaust and finishing operations in exactly the rightposition and orientation demanded for the proper fulfillment of thoseoperations. In particular, each lamp assembly must be delivered forfinishing with a predetermined one of its lead wires in correct positionfor automatic threading through a hole in the lamp base and with anotherpredetermined one of its lead wires in correct position to beautomatically bent over to make contact with the inside surface of thelamp base. In the past, the positioning operation has often dependedupon a human operator who centered each lamp mount on a spindle of thesealing machine and oriented each lamp mount so that its leadwireswould, after the aboveatent o" mentioned transfer operation, be inthe correct position for the finishing operation. However, in accordancewith the objective of increasing the degree of automation in lampmanufacturing, the desirability of performing this step withoutdepending upon a human operator has been recognized. Moreover, if thebulb installation, sealing, flushing, filling and finishing operationsare to be performed in a dual fashion, performing a similar operationupon two lamps at a time, it would be desirable .to have an automaticmount-positioning machine capable not only of functioning substantiallywithout human supervision but also capable of accurately positioning andorienting two lamp mounts at a time. A lamp-mount-positioning machinesatisfying these specifications has not until the present time beenavailable.

It is, therefore, an object of our invention to provide anelectric-lamp-mount positioning machine capable of automaticallycentering lamp mounts upon respective spindles of a machine forinstallation of bulbs thereon.

It is another object of our invention to provide an electric-lamp-mountpositioning machine capable of orienting lamp mounts so thatpredetermined ones of the lead wires have predetermined angularorientations with respect to the center lines of the respectivespindles.

It is a further object of our invention to provide anelectric-lamp-mount positioning machine capable of orienting the pairsof flat places or presses of the lamp mounts in predetermined directionswith respect to the respective spindles. Y

It is a still further object of our invention to provide anelectric-lamp-rnount positioning machine capable of positioningsimultaneously at least two lamp mounts.

Briefly, we accomplish the fulfillment of these and other objects of myinvention by providing a frame adjacent the turret which carries thelamp-sealiug-machine spindles, said frame being fitted with at least apair of lever members pivoted to the frame for rotation relativethereto, each of said lever members being further equipped with at leastone finger member for pressing against a press, or fiat place on thelamp mount. The finger members carried by the respective lever membersshould be so placed that, when the lever members are caused to pivotwith respect to the frame in order to position the lamp mount, thefingers approach each other in such a manner that one pair of fingersembraces the pair of flat places or press of each lamp mount which is tobe positioned. The mechanical linkage should be such that the twofingers which are to position each lamp mount approach each other at apoint directly over the center of the spindle carrying the lamp mount tobe positioned. If the fingers are respectively'spring loaded, they tendto move the lamp mount to a position along the center line of thespindle which carries it and, further, if the ends of the fingers whichembrace the lamp mount are shaped so that each finger presents a faceparallel to that of the finger with which it cooperates and ata desiredangle with respect to a radial line of the sealing-machine turret, theneach lamp mount will not only be centered on its respective spindle butit will also be rotated to assume the orientation which is desired inorder to complement the further rotation to be imparted thereto in thelamp-transfer operation. In a preferred embodiment of our invention, weprovide two pairs of positioning fingers so that two lamp mounts may besimultaneously positioned on their respective sealingmachine spindles. Afull understanding of the structure and operation of theelectric-lamp-mount positioning machine of our invention may be obtainedby a study of the following detailed specification taken in conjunctionwith the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, with some members shown in phantom fashion, of asection of a sealing-machine turbetween adjacent sealing-machinespindles.

3 ret together with the lamp-mount-positioning machine of our invention;and

Fig. 2 is a side elevation view, again showing parts of some members inphantom fashion, taken along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Turning to the plan view of Fig. 1, it will be seen that thelamp-mount-positioning machine of our invention is organized about aframe member 11, which may be of any suitable strong construction whichiscapable of supplying stable and rigid support to the moving members ofthe machine. Frame member 1 may, if desired, be located just outside theperiphery of a turret 12 of a lamp-sealing machine which is so designedas to index, or rotate intermittently. If the sealingmachine happens tobe one which is designed to perform each operation upon one lamp mountat a time, the turret mechanism will probably be such as to rotate theturret in each indexing motion through an angle equal to the arcsubtended by two adjacent sealing-machine spindles. In such a case,'onlyone pair of positioning fingers will be required for themount-positioning machine. However,inasmuch as we have found that dualoperation of a sealing machine is advantageous, the preferred embodimentof our mount-positioning machine, which is the embodiment shown in Fig.1 and which will be used in this specification for purposes ofillustration, is equipped with two pairs of positioning fingers in orderto permit simultaneous positioning of two lamp mounts. In this type ofoperation of the sealing machine and of the mount-positioning machine,the actuating mechanism of the sealing-machine turret will probably besuch as to cause it to rotate during each indexing step through an angleequal to twice the arc subtended In Fig. 1, which represents a sealingmachine and mount-positioning machine equipped for this dual type ofoperation, four sealing-machine spindles are shown and may be designatedby the respective reference numerals 14, 15, 16 and 17. In order tobring the spindles into the position shown in Fig. 1, turret 12 musthave rotated in one indexing operation to bring spindle 16 from thestation occupied in the figure byspindle 14 and to bring spindle 17 fromthe station occupied in the figure by spindle 15. When the positioningof the two lamp mounts carried respectively by spindles 15 and 16 hasbeen completed, turret 12 must again index to bring, in one motion,spindle 14 to the station occupied in the figure by spindle 16 and tobring spindle 15 to the station occupied in the figure by spindle 17Turret 12 of the lamp-sealing machine bears not only the spindles suchas those enumerated above but also a bulb carrier corresponding to eachof the enumerated spindles. The bulb carriers shown in Fig. 1 may berespectively designated by the numerals 20, 21, 22 and 23, and each ofthem may be supported upon turret 12 by a pair of side rods. Each bulbcarrier is shown in sectorial form occupying approximately 240. degreesof the circumference of a circle and having approximately the remaining120 degrees open to receive a glass bulb which is allowed to fall overeach lamp mount as the next step following mount positioning in themanufacturing operation. In a form of sealing machine which we havefound satisfactory, one lamp bulb may be placed over a lamp mount at thestation occupied in Fig. 1 by spindle 17. It will be noted that eachbulb carrier is shown in Fig. l to be equipped with three upstandingfingers which may be spaced at approximately IZO-degree intervals. Theseupstanding fingers may be so shaped as to have minimum contact area withthe glass bulb when said bulb has been placed thereon, therebyconducting away as little heat as possible during the performance of thesealing operation upon the lamp, when the bulb must be raised to a veryhigh temperature.

Returning to the description of the lamp-mountpositioning machineitself, frame 11 will be seen to againstthe lamp-mount press.

4 carry a lever 25, which may be pivoted by means of a shaft 26 to frame11 and which may be actuated by a push rod 27 pivoted to lever by a pin28. It will be understood that, if additional rigidity were desired,lever 25 might take the form of a fork one jaw of which could be pivotednear either end of shaft 26. Intermittent up-and-down motion may beimparted to push rod 27 by pivoting the push rod to a lever not shown inthe drawings, said lever being equipped with a cam follower which ridesupon a cam firmly fixed to a main power transmission shaft. As bestshown in Fig. 2, lever 25 may have the configuration of a crank, theupper end of which carries a slide 30 and a fixture 31 firmly attachedto slide 30. The position of slide 30 may be adjusted relative to lever25 to bring fixture 31 to the desired height, whereupon slide 30 may befastened to lever 25 by means of a screw 32 or any equivalent fasteningmeans. Near one end of fixture 31 may be pivoted by means of a screw 34a positioning finger 35, which is one of the two cooperating fingersthat come to bear One end of positioning finger 35 may be restrained bymeans of a spring 37 or similar-resilient means attached to a pin 38 onpositioning finger 35 and to a pin 39 on fixture 31. The amount ofrestraint imposed on positioning finger 35 byspring 37 is in turnlimited by a stop 40 fastened in an adjustable manner to fixture 31 bymeans of a set screw 41.

Reference to Fig. 1 will show that the positioningfinger assembly whichhas just been described is, in our favored configuration, only one oftwo similar assemblies, each of which may be actuated in like mannerfrom lever 25 and shaft 26. Positioning finger 35 is one of two fingerswhich position a lamp mount carried by the sealing-machine spindle whichhas been designated by reference numeral 16 in Fig. 1, while a similarpositioning finger is one of two fingers which position a lampmount'carried by the sealing-machine spindle which has been designatedby the reference numeral 15 in Fig. 1.

- Fig; 2 of the drawings shows that lever 25, in addition to carryingthe positioning-finger assemblies which have just been described mayalso have pivoted to it by a pin 51 a push rod 52 to one end of which ispivoted a crank 53 which is also in turn pivoted to frame 11 by a pin54. The end of crank 53 which is remote from push rod 52 will be seen tocarry in an adjustable fashion a member including a T-section 55 towhich may be pivoted two additional positioning fingers 56 and 57 bymeans, respectively, of pins 58 and 59. Positioning fingers 56 and 57will be seen to extend toward positioning fingers 45 and 35 respectivelyand, further, to be located in substantially the same plane. The amountby which the free ends of positioning fingers 56 and 57 may becomeseparated may be restrained on the one hand by means of a spring 60 orother equivalent resilient .means and on the other hand by a pair ofstops which function to prevent the free ends of fingers 56 and 57 fromapproaching closer together than the centers of two adjacentsealing-machine spindles.

The manner of operation of the mount-positioning machine of ourinvention may best be understood by reference to Fig. 2, which showsthat, when push rod 27 moves upward, lever 25 rotates causingpositioning fingers 35 and 45 to move to the right. Moreover, when pushrod 52 is simultaneously caused by lever 25 to move upward, crank 53 isrotated in a clockwise direction, which causes positioning fingers 56and 57 to move toward the left into proximity respectively withpositioning fingers 45 and 35. If lamp mounts are in position onspindles 15 and 16 of the sealing machine, each of the lamp mounts willbe embraced between a pair of positioning fingers and will be rotateduntil the orientation of the mount press with respect to the spindleaxis is the same as that of' the faces of the positioning fingers. Whilereasonably good. positioning of .lamp mounts may be obtained withoutemploying positioning fingers which are spring-loaded, we have foundthat, in such a case, each lamp mount may be forced toward one side ofits supporting spindle and may not be free to rotate into properorientation with respect to the spindle axis. Therefore, we prefer toemploy positioning fingers all of which are spring-loaded and all ofwhich are capable of exerting approximately equal forces upon theirrespective lampmount presses. The obtaining of such equal forces may, inview of the longer lever arms employed in fingers 56 and 57 than areemployed in fingers 45 and 35, require that restraining spring 60 bemade somewhat stiffer than restraining spring 37 and its counterpart onthe assembly which carries positioning finger 45. The lamp-manufacturingsteps which follow positioning of the lamp mounts in our favoredapparatus happen to produce further rotations of the mounts such that'wechoose to employ positioning-finger end faces which make an angle ofapproximately 40 degrees with a radial line of the sealing-machineturret at that point.

Inasmuch as the correct functioning of the positioning fingers dependsupon their being brought to bear against the presses or flattened placesof their respective lamp mounts, it is important that the assemblies beso adjusted that the positioning fingers are at the correct height tocome into engagement with the mount presses. If the respective lampmounts are loaded upon the sealingmachine spindles in such a way thateach spindle supports the flare of a lamp mount, the heights of thepositioning fingers above the tops of the sealing-machine spindles mayhave to be changed when the type or size of lamp being manufactured ischanged, because the presses of some sizes of lamp mounts are locatedhigher above their respective flares than are those of other sizes oflamp mounts.

Reference has been made in the paragraphs above to the fact thatsealing-machine turret 12 indexes periodically to bring thesealing-machine spindles, and the respective lamp mounts which theycarry, to stations where the lamp mounts may be positioned and theirpresses oriented by the mount-positioning machine of our invention. Itwill be appropriate to explain the time sequence of the indexing andpositioning operations in order that a fuller understanding of thecoordination between the sealing machine and the mount-positioningmachine may be obtained. The periodic indexing motion of sealing-machineturret 12 may be obtained by means of a ratchet wheel firmly fixed tothe shaft of the sealingmachine turret, said ratchet wheel beingactuated through a pawl and linkage connected with a cam follower whichin turn bears against a cam upon a main power-transmission shaft. Thedesign of this latter cam should be such that a substantial period oftime elapses between indexing motions of turret 12. When turret 12 hasbeen indexed to bring two mount-carrying spindles to the stationsoccupied by spindles denominated by the reference numerals 15 and 16respectively, push rod 27 of the mount-positioning machine is thencaused to move upward by means of the lever, cam follower, and cam whichdrive it. As has been explained, upward motion of push rod 27 causes, inthe preferred embodiment, positioning fingers 45 and 35 respectively toapproach positioning fingers 56 and 57, embracing and orienting therespective presses of the pair of lamp mounts therebetween. When thispositioning and orienting operation has taken place, push rod 27 iscaused by its lever, cam follower, and cam mechanism to move downward,thereby causing the respective pairs of positioning fingers to retractand to leave room for the sealing-machine spindles and lamp mounts topass between them. When retraction of the positioning fingers iscomplete, the next indexing step of turret 12 may then take place,bringing two fresh spindles to the stations respectively occupied byspindles 15 and 16 in Fig. l. The lengths of the lever arms of lever 25and crank 53 must clearly be such as to cause the positioning fingers toretract far enough to permit the indexing of turret 12 to take place. Ifsuch a design were not employed, a collision between the positioningfingers and the lamp mounts could occur, and the positioning of the lampmounts which is the objective of the mount-positioning machine would belost. One way of controlling the relative amounts of travel of the twopairs of positioning fingers, in addition to the choice of lever arms oflever 25 and crank 53, is the choice of position on lever 25 at whichpin 51 pivots push rod 52 thereto. It will also be noted that theadjustment of the height of slide 30 and the height of T-section 55affects not only the respective heights at which the positioning fingersembrace the lamp mount, but also affects the mounts of horizontal travelof the two pairs of positioning fingers in approaching the lamp mountand in being retracted therefrom. Adjustment of the height of T-section55 can be obtained, for example, by means of a slot in the end of crank53 at the point where crank 53 supports the member of which T-section 55is a part. Two bolts 71 and 72, which may support the members of whichT-section 55 is a part, are free to be set at any points in slot 70,thereby establishing the height of T-section 55 with respect to crank53.

The preceding discussion has impliedly assumed that each pair ofsealing-machine spindles arriving at the sealing-machine stations wherethe mount-positioning machine is located both carry lamp mounts. If, forany ,reason, one of the sealing-machine spindles arriving at themount-positioning station should not be carrying a lamp mount, it wouldbe advantageous to detect the absence of a lamp mount in order that alamp bulb may not later be loaded upon the spindle not carrying a lampmount. We have found that the mount-positioning machine is a convenientplace to locate a detector for sensing the presence or absence of a lampmount on either one or two of the sealing-machine spindles. Such adetector may comprise a nozzle 75 directed at the center line of one ofthe sealing-machine spindles and slightly above the upper extremity ofthe spindle, in a position which will be occupied by a flare 77 of alamp mount, if one is present on the spindle. Nozzle 75 may be connectedthrough a hose 78 to a supply of compressed air which will then be freeto flow through nozzle 75 against flare 77 of the lamp mount. We havefound that it is desirable to place somewhere in the compressed-air linea filter capable of removing from the compressed air substantially allforeign material which might otherwise become attached to the lamp mountand contaminate it. Inasmuch as the surface of the lamp mount againstwhich the air is directed will, after the sealing operation, be at leastpartially sealed within the lamp bulb, it is important that no foreignsubstances be allowed to remain thereon. It has been found that sinteredbronze is a satisfactory filter material for removing foreign matterfrom the compressed air employed in the detector, and that a gaugepressure of approximately 10 pounds per square inch is satisfactory forthe detection function. If a lamp mount is not present upon thesealing-machine spindle over which compressed air is directed fromnozzle 75, the stream of compressed air will be free to strike a baffle80 which may be carried by a sping-loaded arm 81 Which in turn operatesa microswitch 82 or similar device. The microswitch is a very sensitivedevice such that, when arm 81 is deflected slightly by virtue ofpressure applied to baffle 80 by the compressed air, an electric circuitis altered in such a way as to send out a signal to the apparatus whichinstalls the glass'bulbs upon the lamp mounts. The design of thebulb-installing apparatus is such that it can remember the fact that acertain sealing-machine spindle at which arm 81 is deflected is aspindle which does not carry a lamp mount and that it should not have alamp bulb supplied to it. While we prefer to sense the presence orabsence of lamp mounts upon only one of eachpair ofsealing-machinespindles which arrives at the mount-positioning stations, one may, if sodesired, install detectors so that the presence or absence of a lampmount can be sensed for spindles located at both the stations occupiedby spindles 15 and16 in Fig. l. If,as is the casein our preferredembodiment, the presence or absence of a lamp mount on the-spindledesignated by the numeral 16 is not sensed at eithermount-positioning-station, the sensing maybe done by means of a detectormounted at the nextstation to which spindle 16 -willbeindexed, that isto say, the station which is the next one to the right of the stationoccupied by spindle 17 but whichisnot shown in Fig. 1. Itwill beunderstood that, nt-only may the number ofmount detectors employed bevaried, but also the nature of the detectors-may be changed to any otherform of detector capable of' -sensingthe presence or absence of a lampmount on the sealing-machine spindle adjacent it. A detector may bemounted upon a member 85 connected to T-section 55 or, alternatively,may be mounted upon the frame of the mount-positioning machine or in anyother place Where firm and stable support may be obtained.

It will be seenthat our objectiveof automatically positioning lampmounts on sealing-machine spindles and orienting the presses thereof atdesired angles is fulfilled by means of the machine which we havedescribed in this specification. While one particular over-allembodimenthas been chosen for the purpose of illustration oftheprinciples of our invention, it will be understood that various:changesmay be made in the number, nature, array vand disposition of themechanical components without departing from-the essence of ourinvention.

What we claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

In a lamp making machine, an orientating mechanism fora mount having ahollow bottom flare adapted to center on-a spindle 'and an upper pair offlats on opposite sides of the mount,'a spindle on which the mount ispositioned and rotatable relative to the axis thereof, a pair of fingerson opposite'sides of the spindle and movable towardand from the flats,said fingers having planar flat engaging portions which are directlyopposite each other whenthe flats are engaged, and at an oblique angleto the direction of'motion of the fingers, whereby a mount may beoriented on the spindle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,252,498 Flaws t. Aug. 12, 1941 2,332,058 Cattonar Oct. 19, 19432,415,997 Eldred Feb. 18, 1947 2,641,371 Webster June 9, 1953 2,723,743Carter Nov. 15, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,037,574 France May 6, 1953

